PITTSBURGH — The only pot-related question on any state ballot this year is in Ohio, where voters were deciding Tuesday whether to legalize marijuana for recreational and medical use in a single stroke.
If it passes, Ohio would become the fifth state to legalize recreational marijuana and would hand over exclusive rights in the state's pot business to a limited circle of private investors that include some famous names.
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The proposed constitutional amendment, known as Issue 3, would allow adults 21 and older to grow, possess and use pot while making it available for medical use. Ohioans would be able to buy marijuana, pot-infused candies and other related products from potentially 1,100-plus retail stores.
Home-growers would be limited to four flowering marijuana plants and 8 ounces of usable marijuana at a given time for personal use.
Pot sold commercially would have to come from 10 authorized growing sites that are already spoken for.
Those facilities have attracted some famous investors, including basketball Hall of Famer Oscar Robertson, former boy band star Nick Lachey, fashion designer Nanette Lepore and Woody Taft, a descendant of President William Howard Taft.
The pro-legalization ResponsibleOhio campaign has spent at least $12 million on ads. It has faced opposition from a well-organized, diverse coalition of opponents that includes children's hospitals, business organizations and farmers.
Critics say the proposal's arrangement would amount to an economic monopoly designed for personal gain.
That has led to a second question on Tuesday's ballot intended to nullify marijuana legalization: State legislators placed an initiative that seeks to ban monopolies from Ohio's constitution.
If the marijuana question passes and monopolies are banned, a court will likely decide the issue.
Pennsylvania Attorney General Kathleen Kane is watching the vote closely.
In a statement to Channel 11 News, a spokesperson for the AG said, “It is difficult to quantify what effects it may have for our state. That said, it is reasonable to expect some ramifications, such as an increase in impaired driving.”
The sheriff in Chappell, Nebraska, a small town that borders Colorado, where recreational marijuana is legal, told Channel 11’s Aaron Martin that drug arrests have sky-rocketed, rising about 300 to 400 percent since the law was passed three years ago.
Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto said he’s not worried about what Ohio voters decide.
Peduto thinks Western Pennsylvania is dealing with what he deems is a much bigger issue -- heroin and prescription drug abuse.
"We have an epidemic going on within this state, and recreational marijuana use isn't really that big of a concern to me when the abuse of prescription drugs is having a direct effect and hurting families," Peduto said.
Channel 11 News reached out to several law enforcement agencies, like the Pennsylvania State Police and the Beaver County Sheriff’s Office to see if any plans are in place.
They say it’s too early to make plans, but it will be re-evaluated if the change is approved by voters.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
WPXI
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